Not Quite Mine (Not Quite #2)(69)
Author: Catherine Bybee

“I’ve always thought of your dad as a linebacker that would tackle anyone who even tried to hurt you.”

Katie giggled. “Yeah…he would. Listen, I—I, ah, told them…about Savannah.”

“You what?” His grip tightened on the phone.

“I couldn’t keep lying to them. All this drama with my own mother made me realize that there are women out there that can’t be a mom. Emotionally. Maybe Savannah’s mom couldn’t handle it.”

Dean thought of Maggie and couldn’t rule that reason out. They’d talked about kids, having them someday, but nothing stood out as a sign that Maggie wasn’t mother material. Come to think of it, she always brushed off the kid conversation. He’d told her about Katie. About their child. Those conversations were short, however. Dean thought their limited conversations on the subject were because they included Katie. Talking with his fiancée about his ex had been met with hostility. He didn’t blame Maggie for that.

Now that Maggie was part of his past, Dean could see that he’d always loved Katie. Maggie must have sensed that.

“Dean? You there?”

“Yeah, I’m here. How did they take the news?” The last thing Dean needed was the Morrison men digging too deep in Savannah’s parentage…not yet. Not yet.

“They were shocked. My dad thinks someone is gunning for money.”

Dean hadn’t ruled that out either. If Maggie wanted money, why hadn’t she gone to him? Sure, his pockets didn’t run as deep as Gaylord’s but he wasn’t without means. Millions of them.

“What about Jack?”

“Jack got stuck on the fact that I can’t have kids. I didn’t know my brother was such a softy. He was excited about Savannah though, and can’t wait to tell Jessie.”

“Do you think your dad will launch his own investigation?”

“I—I told him to wait. I…I…” Her voice trailed off. “I can’t wait to get home.”

“Me, too.” He glanced at his watch.

“We were going to leave tonight, but there’s a tropical storm cutting down air traffic. The pilot said we could leave in the morning so long as the bulk of the storm passes overnight without a ton of damage.”

“That’s probably better anyway…in case something changes with your mom.”

“They moved her out of the ICU shortly after we left. I think she’ll physically be fine. I insisted that we stop in Texas tomorrow and drop off my brother and dad. They both wanted to come and see Savannah, talk to you.”

Dean laughed despite the nerves fraying the edge of his psyche. “I didn’t think your family would let me off with a We’ll talk about this later warning.”

“Just leave them to me. After I told my mom off, the two of them aren’t so quick to jump on me.”

“It’s not you they’ll be jumping on.” Not that he was worried. His intentions when it came to Katie had always been honorable.

Only now he had a new dilemma…he had the mother of his child to deal with.

He gave up on his search for Maggie and drove home. After relieving Mrs. Hoyt and making sure she could return the next day, Dean spent a little time in his office before Savannah woke from her late nap.

A message greeted him from Nathan. “I found Maggie’s aunt living in the Valley. Like you said. Looks like Maggie was living with her before she had the baby. I have a new address. Call me.”

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Dean approached the door to the bungalow style home and hesitated before he knocked.

He rapped three times and stood back. Maggie’s car was in the drive but the house was quiet. He hoped she was home. He didn’t want to have to come back later.

He knocked again and heard footsteps.

Maggie opened the door with a rush, the smile on her face quickly faded when she recognized him. Her hair was swept up into a ponytail, her face free of any makeup. She looked younger than he remembered. He’d forgotten that she was six years younger than him. Just out of college when they’d met.

“Hi, Maggie,” he said. Trying his level best to keep his voice even.

“Dean.”

She looked beyond him, searching for Savannah maybe…or Katie?

“I’m here alone,” he told her. “Savannah’s with a sitter.”

Her attention shot to his and her shoulders sagged. Without words, she opened the door farther, walked into the house, away from him.

He followed her inside and closed the door behind him. His heart beat so rapidly he found himself breathing hard.

She stood with her back to him, her hands poised on the edge of the kitchen sink while she looked out a window.

Dean waited for her to say something. He didn’t trust himself and had learned long ago that silence often worked better than words when trying to get someone to open up.

“So…you and Katelyn are back together.” Was that hurt in her voice?

Instead of answering her question, he asked his own. “Why, Maggie?”

She took a deep breath and still had yet to turn around. “Do you know how much you talked about her when you were with me?” she asked.

Dean flinched.

“You tried to hide your feelings for her. I convinced myself that it was natural for you to slip once in a while and call me her name.”

“Twice. That happened twice.” And they’d only been dating a few weeks when he slipped. Maggie had laughed it off and told him it wasn’t a big deal.

She twisted around, met his eyes. “You talk in your sleep, Dean. I told myself that you weren’t responsible for your dreams. Reminded myself that it was me wearing your ring. But it wasn’t me you loved. It was her.”

Dean’s teeth clenched together. He couldn’t deny his feelings and didn’t see a need to shelter Maggie from the truth now.

“I cared about you.”

“But you loved her.”

“You had my baby.”

She blinked a few times.

“I would have stuck by you,” he said softly. He wasn’t raised to walk away from his responsibilities.

“And I would have hated you for it. Having a child isn’t a reason to get married.”

“I’d already asked you to marry me.” He ran a frustrated hand through his hair.

“To what end, Dean? You may have been ready to get married, but you weren’t ready to be a father.”

“The hell I wasn’t!” he yelled.

“Not a single father. Do you remember the night you told me about Katie’s miscarriage?”